Which Mattress To Buy and Points to Consider

This is a discussion on Which Mattress To Buy and Points to Consider within Shifting gears, part of the Around the Corner category; I need to buy a mattress and was surprised when found nothing about it in Team-BHP..!!!!
I had thought that ...

I need to buy a mattress and was surprised when found nothing about it in Team-BHP..!!!!

I had thought that it would be an easy process of just buying a mattress but a cursory reading about it on the internet led me more confused than before and can't really decide which is best for Indian conditions.

Needs:

Get comfortable sleep and not wake up with backaches.

Should be durable & last for a reasonable amount of time. > 5-7 years

Here is what I found:

Spring Mattress: Are very common in the west and catching up in India. Which are the best brands in India and which brand/model to stay away from?

Latex: Are they suitable for Indian hot/humid conditions? Again, What to look for and which are the best brands in India and which brand/model to stay away from?

Coir: Have one currently and they become like a rock over a period of time. Have some technology changed that they can provide comfort. Are combinations of Coir/latex etc available?

Memory/NASA Technology Material Mattress: Some fancy layer on top of Spring/latex mattresses and are VERY VERY costly. Are they worth the price & hype?

Final Q: What are the mattresses they use in 5* hotels and how to get hold of them?? They seem sooooooo relaxing to sleep.

I attempted to research on this about half a decade ago when buying one & nothing seemed to be convincing or promising. So eventually we decided to stitch one made out of cotton(ilavam panju). What we did was, we hired a reliable guy & then made the mattress with criss-cross stitching, like a box kind & stuffed each box with cotton. The comfort? I don't know much about the comfort of Kurl-On or Sleepwell branded mattress, but I'm happy that we don't have back aches with this one.

I've been told that the mattress shouldn't be soft & should be hard (not as solid rock).

Quote:

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

Final Q: What are the mattresses they use in 5* hotels and how to get hold of them?? They seem sooooooo relaxing to sleep.

Even Im looking for good mattress. Evaluated Spring, latex & coir but finally could not make up mind!
I need slightly bigger size mattress because the beds Im using are old(made of good quality wood), the size is bigger than the beds available now. Also, Im tall at more than 6ft.

I think spring mattress are expensive than the rest. Need one that is best for the back & Coir is supposed to be the best for back.

I had thought that it would be an easy process of just buying a mattress but a cursory reading about it on the internet led me more confused than before and can't really decide which is best for Indian conditions.

You bet it isn't an easy process if you have suffered from the coir mattress. All the big brands seem to be just an eye-wash or provide comfort for initial 3 years of purchase.

Quote:

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

Spring Mattress: Are very common in the west and catching up in India. Which are the best brands in India and which brand/model to stay away from?

You can check out for Spring Koil an American company recently ventured into Indian Mkt. Others I don't know. But certainly would not recommend Springwell or Kurl-On.

Quote:

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

Latex:Coir:Memory/NASA Technology Material Mattress:

I would suggest you to stay away from Latex as the ill effects of this technology isn't yet known.
Coir you already know the problems.
NASA technology material - Why be a Guinea pig for those companies

Quote:

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

Final Q: What are the mattresses they use in 5* hotels and how to get hold of them?? They seem sooooooo relaxing to sleep.

Try Shobha Restoplus mattress. Starts from 28K in Bangalore. You will get the same 5* hotels mattresses feeling. Awesome. I had checked one which was priced 42K. What a comfort; wanted to sleep in the showroom all day. Too good.

For Shobha restoplus
There are 2 showrooms in bangalore. One in basavanagudi and another one in Shobha Developers head office don't know where it is. If you check Bangalore times regularly, you can see their ads. Ad appears in a very small column compared to sleepwell and kurl-on.

If you want sleepwell and kurl-on any furniture store should help you find your required mattresses.

Memory/NASA Technology Material Mattress: We Use this one and what it does is that it assumes/adjusts according to how the body presses on the matress without offering much resistance to come back to its original state and once you are up, it comes back to its position. I found it relatively soft and comfortable.

For back friendly options, it's always recomended to have a hard and firm mattress.

My thoughts on the same, I use a 4" coir mattress currently for the last 7 odd years and am happy with the support it provides.

When in the market i found that if a 4" costs x, the 5" is 2x, the 6" is 4x and so on.

So if you are looking at a 8" or 12" mattress, see if 2 or 3 4" mattress stacked would help. It will also cost you way way less than a single 8" or 12", i have seen this only for the coir, so would apply only for coir.

If you suddenly have guests come in you can pull out one and share beyond the second and third bedroom.

Having been associated with a leading US mattress brand for sometime in the past (was looking after retail sales and am well versed with the production techniques, USPs etc), I think I can let you know some facts for sure. Please find my replies in bold below..

Quote:

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

Here is what I found:

Spring Mattress: Are very common in the west and catching up in India. Which are the best brands in India and which brand/model to stay away from?

Having used more or less all these types, this is probably the best form of a mattress.. but you need to be careful about the brand, as local spring mattresses (springwell types) tend to sag after a short use..and that the springs begin to hurt you or in worse cases, pop out of the mattress altogether. The best brand available in India is King Koil. Look for the premium band from "Raha", they're also good if not the best.

Latex: Are they suitable for Indian hot/humid conditions? Again, What to look for and which are the best brands in India and which brand/model to stay away from?

Hot & humid conditions typically don't affect Latex, unless you put them in direct sunlight. The best brand is Serta. Dont know about their availability in India.

Coir: Have one currently and they become like a rock over a period of time. Have some technology changed that they can provide comfort. Are combinations of Coir/latex etc available?

Not worth mentioning.. useless is one word unless you suffer from back pain. There was one Indian company that tried out the latex/coir combo.. but latex was just to cover the coir property of getting tough over sometime.

Memory/NASA Technology Material Mattress: Some fancy layer on top of Spring/latex mattresses and are VERY VERY costly. Are they worth the price & hype?

Not sure about NASA and all, but yes spring-latex combo is very very comfortable (best of the lot) but NOT worth the premium (price). I bought it used and those were the best months of sleeping.

Final Q: What are the mattresses they use in 5* hotels and how to get hold of them?? They seem sooooooo relaxing to sleep.

Not in Indian context, but hotels in Middle East and US use spring in majority, use spring-latex combo for the premium and latex for the suites.

So, any pointers to shops/contacts for Mattresses in Bangalore?

You can google king koil and get some pointers, they surely have a presence in delhi.

Last but not the least, when you go for shopping, please lay down for 15 min eyes closed on the mattress that you intend to buy.. and remember maintain a gap of atleast pure 5 min. before trying out the next one, else you wont be able to make out the difference. Hope this helps.

Guys, thanks a lot for the inputs. Will check the suggested brands out. Meanwhile, I spent the afternoon in mattress shops and came back more confused than before . Not only there are various types of material, we also have combination of the materials:

Coir + Foam / Coir + Memory Foam

Spring (Bonell/Pocket) + Latex etc / Springs + Coir + Memory Foam

Latex + Foam

And to make matters worst, all these come in different thickness.

Somehow, In Bangalore dealers seem to be recommending the "Restolex" brand (manufactured in Bangalore) saying it is equally/better than Kurlon/Sleepwell at a much lesser price

...
You can check out for Spring Koil an American company recently ventured into Indian Mkt. ....

Try Shobha Restoplus mattress. Starts from 28K in Bangalore. You will get the same 5* hotels mattresses feeling. Awesome. I had checked one which was priced 42K. What a comfort; wanted to sleep in the showroom all day. Too good

Yeah, Will try the Shoba mattress.

Quote:

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Hmm,

If you got the budget - there are 8", 10", 12" thick mattresses which are custom made in Chandigarh - supplied to the creme de la creme of hotels like the Oberois nationwide.

If you're interested in some high end stuff, can get you the vendor details - a friend recently bought one post his marriage , the 10" costed 35k for a double bed in 2009.

Are these the "Snoozer" Mattress you talking about? If yes, then they seem to be available in Bangalore. Have heard GOOD things about them from various folks and will for sure try them out. Snoozer Bedding

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lukeskywalker

Khan, check out King Koil, I have bought it and am perfectly happy, it is a boon for my bad back.

Cool.. Will call you and find out more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by panky12345

...
Last but not the least, when you go for shopping, please lay down for 15 min eyes closed on the mattress that you intend to buy.. and remember maintain a gap of atleast pure 5 min. before trying out the next one, else you wont be able to make out the difference...

Oh man, how true.!!!!!. I was confused as hell after trying out the various combinations. Couldn't keep track after some time which is which and which one was more comfortable/firm/soft/hard amongst the lot.

But, I also realized that I am not the only one with this dilemma. I saw quite a few couples/families going through the same confusing experience at the dealer shops.

For back aches doctors recommend using thinner mattresses(I mean the cotton wool ones). too much foam or spring spoil the support to the back. I bought a Godrej mattress recently. Didn't research too much on it. Just bought it b'coz I bought the bed too from godrej so i didn't have to hunt around for mattress. It has a range of mattresses for every price band and each range has been graded on the scales of comfort and firmness. walk into a godrej interio showroom and you would find a variety of them on display. Then you can test them there as to which one is the best for you back.
I get severe back aches on mattresses lacking firmness. though I love the good old Cotton wool stuffed ones but on a wrought iron bed coir based mattress is a must as they some times dont have a proper wooden support at the base to put the mattress on. I bought godrej vertibra 6 feet X 6.5 feet for 15K and I am very happy with it. Didn't have backache problem on it till now as it is very firm(not hard). The mattress itself weighs around 50 kgs.